Posts tagged Celebration Plaza

Cedar Point Press Release
SANDUSKY, Ohio, July 3, 2012 — You’ve heard her smash single, “Call Me Maybe”– now see Carly Rae Jepsen in person as she performs this Saturday, July 7, at Cedar Point!

All season passholders and guests who purchase general admission tickets to the park are invited to attend.

A competition between Northeast Ohio’s seven leading dance crews, sponsored by Cleveland’s 96.5 KISS-FM, will usher in Jepsen’s appearance at Cedar Point’s new Celebration Plaza in front of the Iron Dragon roller coaster. The 96.5 Kiss FM Dance Crew Competition runs from 5-7 p.m., and Carly Rae will perform with her band immediately afterward.

Her show sets the stage for Luminosity, Cedar Point’s new high-energy show that transforms Celebration Plaza into a dance party after the sun sets each evening through Aug. 19.

“Luminosity is designed to attract people of all ages, and Carly Rae Jepsen’s music has that same widespread appeal,” said Charles Bradshaw, Cedar Point’s corporate vice president of live entertainment. “She’s a perfect fit for our park and a great way to add to all the excitement we’re creating this year.”

The 26-year-old singer has been generating buzz up north since her 2007 run on Canadian Idol, but she’s more recently skyrocketed to fame in the United States and beyond. After joining forces with teen idol Justin Bieber on his School Boy Records label, she’s visiting Sandusky for the first time as she works her way through an ambitious tour schedule.

Her irresistibly catchy hit, “Call Me Maybe,” has climbed to the No. 1 spot on the U.S. iTunes chart, and its music video has become a viral sensation since it was released in March.

It has attracted nearly 140 million views and inspired countless remakes, with lip-synching videos featuring everyone from Katy Perry to the Harvard baseball team.

Cedar Point’s employees even channeled their enthusiasm for Carly Rae Jepsen into a video of their own, parading through the park with a unique take on her song. Nearly 200 employees -from ride operators, sweeps and lifeguards to Snoopy and even the park’s general manager– came together to rehearse and produce the clip within an hour, just before the park opened. The result was a 3-minute, 25-second YouTube video showcasing the many lively personalities that make Cedar Point a world-class act.

Carly Rae Jepsen’s appearance was made possible by Pepsi and Cleveland’s 96.5 KISS-FM in conjunction with the station’s one-of-a-kind dance competition. Dance crews who have made the cut will step up to the stage, where the crowds can text to vote for their favorite. The most popular crew wins a private screening of Step Up Revolution, in theaters July 27, and tickets to return to Cedar Point with all-day access to the front of the lines.

“With the popularity of so many dancing shows on television, we wanted to do something that would showcase local hip hop dance crews,” KISS-FM program director Bo Matthews said. “We wanted to find an amazing venue and give these talented groups an opportunity to show their moves and compete for a great prize. They are all very excited at the opportunity to perform on the Luminosity stage, and we couldn’t be more thrilled about how popular Carly Rae Jepsen has become. She will be at Cedar Point while she has the No. 1 song in the country.”

For more information about Carly Rae Jepsen and Luminosity, visit cedarpoint.com. To watch Cedar Point’s employees rushing to the stage as they sing along to “Call Me Maybe,” click HERE.

Cedar Point will be open daily through Labor Day, Sept. 3, plus Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays, Sept. 7 through Oct. 28. For a complete operating calendar and more information about the 2012 operating season, guests can log on to www.cedarpoint.com or call the park’s general information line at (419) 627-2350.

Cedar Point has announced today that it is expanding its new Celebration Plaza. As a part of that expansion, Cedar Point will be removing the WildCat roller coaster. In a statement on their website, they said…

WildCat was coming to the end of its useful life. With the desired expansion to Celebration Plaza, coupled with the low ridership and increased maintenance costs, Cedar Point has decided to accelerate the removal of the ride. WildCat will be removed from the park prior to Opening Day and the materials will be sent to a recycling facility.

This is the first roller coaster that Cedar Point has removed since the Jumbo Jet in 1978.

They said this expansion is one of several initiatives that will beautify the park midways and enhance guests’ experiences. Cedar Point remains committed to being the roller coaster capital of the world which means that new roller coasters, rides and attractions will always be in the future plans of the park.

SANDUSKY, Ohio, April 13, 2012 — This summer, when the sun sets on another day of thrills at Cedar Point, guests will be treated to an entertainment encore that ignites all of their senses.

Cedar Point’s new live show, Luminosity, Powered by Pepsi, will transform the park’s Main Midway into a dance club aglow with flames, lasers and more than 1 million lights that extend beyond the stage, illuminating rides and buildings.

Luminosity will take the stage with a grand opening on Friday, June 8, igniting the night through Sunday, Aug. 19. Guests can experience the magic before then as the show unofficially starts Friday, June 1.

“Cedar Point is a magical place on a summer night, and Luminosity is going to treat our guests to a very special nighttime experience,” said John Hildebrandt, Vice President and General Manager of the park. “Luminosity will be many things: midway and ride lights, music, singing and dancing on a 75-foot stage, pyrotechnics, video and a few surprises — but it will also be a way for families to connect at the end of the day and create new memories of their visit to the park.”

“We believe all our rides and shows are special, but the real joy comes from sharing those experiences with family and friends.”

This conceptual artist rendering shows the Luminosity stage, where 30 talented performers will entertain guests as special effects light up the night at Cedar Point. (Cedar Point)

Each day at dusk, the park will begin to glow with enhanced lighting on the Giant Wheel, Power Tower and Millennium Force, as well as along the Main Midway.

At the new Celebration Plaza in front of the Iron Dragon roller coaster, more than two dozen dancers, singers, drummers and other performers will accompany guests on a multi-sensory adventure. Onstage with a backdrop rising nearly 25 feet, performers will journey by land, under the sea and through space, with eye-catching costume changes and scenery that unfolds throughout the show to set the mood. They’ll twist and twirl to the tune of dynamic pop favorites, firing up the crowd. The adventure culminates in an explosion of fireworks and pyrotechnics that will light up the sky.

While guests are riding high on a wave of excitement, a DJ will crank up the dance hits and take requests.

Pulsating rhythms from top performers such as Jennifer Lopez, Pitbull and Britney Spears will coax even the most reluctant dancers from the sidelines. They’ll take a cue from flash mobs that will make surprise appearances throughout the day to give guests a glimpse of what’s to come. Another DJ stationed in front of the Cedar Point Ballroom will invite families to join the party along the midway. It’s the perfect way to continue celebrating together after an action-packed day at the park.

“It’s very much an all-encompassing experience,” said Charles Bradshaw, Corporate Vice President of live entertainment. “There will be many technical accents and special effects, combined with concert-style music and 30 talented performers that really connect with the audience in a close setting. We want them to feel like they’re part of the excitement.”

Luminosity is one of many ways Cedar Point is connecting people through thrills, in addition to its 17 roller coasters, award-winning entertainment and resort accommodations. Watch a preview of the show atluminosity.cedarpoint.com.

Cedar Point opens for the summer on Saturday, May 12 and will be open daily through Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 3, 2012 and Friday through Sunday through Oct. 28. For more details and additional information about Cedar Point, please visit the new cedarpoint.com or call the park’s general information line at 419-627-2350.

Cedar Point’s new leader wants to keep the energy coursing through visitors’ veins night and day.

Such is the philosophy behind Cedar Fair’s multimillion-dollar Luminosity, Ignite the Night, the newest offering at the company’s flagship park this summer.
Matthew Ouimet, Cedar Fair’s new CEO and president, noticed the energy level among guests would drop off later at night, said Bryan Edwards, Cedar Point spokesman.

Enter Luminosity, a $6 million production that doesn’t pull any proverbial punches when it comes to showmanship.

The park opens May 12, although Luminosity doesn’t debut until June 1.

Cedar Point’s upcoming attempt this summer to get customers to stay later — and presumably spend a little more money — will be a mix of singers, dancers, drummers, acrobats, lights, lasers, and fireworks. And if that isn’t enough, a DJ will get a dance party started afterward.

The Sandusky amusement park has been tight-lipped about the new after-dark event — Luminosity: Ignite the Night — that it plans to unveil in June.

But details of the Disney resort-inspired extravaganza leaked out recently on the independent Cedar Point aficionado Web site “Point Buzz” following an “off-season tour” Feb. 25 that offered insights of the upcoming season and an up-close look at the park to a group of roller coaster enthusiasts.

Point Buzz operators said they were told that Luminoisty will feature “25 dancers, 3 drummers, 2 [acrobats], a DJ, and singers.”

The 40-minute show also will feature four sections: land travel, sea travel, space travel, and a finale with fireworks, the Web site said.

A Cedar Point spokesman confirmed most of the details.

Point Buzz said the show will cost Cedar Point $6 million, but the Cedar Point spokesman wouldn’t confirm that.

By contrast, its new attraction for the season, Dinosaurs Alive!, will cost just $1 million.

After the fireworks, a DJ will host a dance party on a new stage to be built on the midway area near the Iron Dragon roller coaster. The new area will be dubbed Celebration Plaza and it will be used during the day for a show featuring Peanuts characters, Point Buzz said.

In January, new Cedar Fair LP Chief Executive Officer Matt Ouimet told Wall Street analysts that Luminosity would be tested at the company’s Cedar Point flagship park and, if successful, would be duplicated at the chain’s other amusement parks. Mr. Ouimet said at the time that in his 17 years as an executive at Disney Co., he had learned that lights and fireworks were the only two things that get customers to extend their stays at an amusement park.

Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services Inc. of Cincinnati said Luminosity’s reported $6 million price tag, if accurate, is inexpensive by current standards.

“Specifically, one of the best indicators of what is happening in the industry is what Disney’s California Adventure [in Los Angeles] has done with the introduction of their new light and water show. That cost $100 million,” Mr. Speigel said.

“So what we’re seeing with [Luminosity] — and this is what we here have been talking about for several years as it pertains to the changing demographics and to the families — is what Cedar Point needed to do,” Mr. Speigel said. “Cedar Point may be the roller coaster capital of the world, but there comes a point when some people stop riding these attractions as aging occurs.”

It’s past time, Mr. Speigel added, that Cedar Point began adding more family attractions, and Luminosity is a positive step. “This is exactly what we forecast that Matt [Ouimet] would be bringing to the park. This is his history, coming out of Disney and its resorts, of knowing how to make people stay longer, make them spend a little more,” Mr. Speigel said.

Bryan Edwards, the Cedar Point spokesman, said Luminosity is to be launched around June 1 and start around dusk each evening.

“It’s unlike any other show we’ve ever done here at Cedar Point. It’s really going to revamp the whole midway,” he said, adding that new lighting and sound systems are being installed on the midway from the front gate to the new Luminosity stage.

Mr. Edwards said the show “is really kind of our way of rejuvenating the night. After a seven or eight-hour day of riding some of the best coasters in the world, you can feel a little run down by the end of the day.”

Park officials see the show as being a “high-energy, must-see event with something for all ages,” Mr. Edwards said. “It will be really neat. We don’t want the public to think this is just another laser show because it isn’t.”